The City On the Hill
by Kiearrah Mai Rhone
Summary: "Did you hear of the city on the hill?" Said the one old man to the other. "It once shined bright and it would be shining still. But they all started turning on each other."
1. Asa

**I got the idea for this story from Casting Crowns' song, City On the Hill. As I listened to it I pictured it as a story, so I decided to write it with some more fun twists and such in it. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song this is based off of, but I do own the storyline.**

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_"Did you hear of the city on the hill?" Said the one old man to the other. "It once shined bright and it would be shining still, but they all started turning on each other. You see the poets thought the dancers were shallow, and the soldiers thought the poets were weak. The elders saw the young ones as foolish, and the rich man never heard the poor man speak."_

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Terence looked at the people around him as he jogged down the beach. He saw some kids building a castle in the sand. Terence remembered a fairytale his mother had long ago told him at night before he fell asleep. He sat down on a bench to take a break and watched the children build the castle. He thought back to his mother's words and was lost in the memory of them.

"There once was a city on a hill. It was a wonderful city, full of life and light and wonderfully kind people. In that city there lived a boy, the age of ten years old, named Asa Dorr.

Asa was not your average boy, he didn't like to play with balls in the streets with the other boys his age, he didn't like to get muddy, or play in the dirt. He liked to be still and think. He didn't speak very often, but when he did he spoke with such wisdom and knowledge, you couldn't help but listen to him.

Because he didn't speak much, especially not around strangers, most people thought him a rather daft child, and treated him as such. For the most part, he was ignored altogether. Asa didn't mind though because other people ignoring him gave him more time to think.

Asa though of all sorts of things. Of the tools in the city, and how they worked. Of great stories and fairy tales he made up. He thought of the great and mysterious king that ruled the city. But mostly, Asa thought of his little sister Jaiyne. He thought about her almost constantly. Jaiyne was three years old and was born without the ability to walk. Asa thought about ways to cure her. He had thought over and over about different possibilities, but he couldn't think of anything that would work.

Asa and Jaiyne lived with their mother, Lyliah, in the north of the city in a little apartment on the top floor. Asa's father was away in the war. The war was between Asa's city and another at the bottom of the hill. The two cities had fought for who knows how long. Even the oldest person in the city on the hill could not remember a time when war was not between the two cities. Some even said that the war had started at the beginning of time and had never ceased. Even with all that time fighting, both cities were still flourishing.

The city at the bottom of the hill was said to be a nasty place, full of mean people and villainy, where there was no happiness. In the city on the hill though, there were poets and dancers, young people and old, rich people and poor. But even with all those people, everyone was happy, and got along and was content.

Until recently that is. Asa had noticed quarrels had broken out more and more. He had heard the poets call the dancers shallow, and the soldiers call the poets weak. He and other kids had been called foolish by the elders, and the rich men had been increasingly rude and haughty to the poor, and just flat-out ignoring them.

It was at one of these times that Asa began to wonder if living in the city on the hill was really as wonderful as he thought it was. He was walking home from school, which was only about a quarter of a mile away from where he lived, and he saw several things. He saw lots of quarreling and fighting between whom he thought were friends. He saw name-calling and rudeness. He wondered when people had started doing these things, because all Asa had known his whole life was these very same people getting along and loving one another.

He thought about it and knew that things were changing. Asa though that it was the war, too many years fighting. He had also heard rumors that spies from the other city had infiltrated the city and were discouraging those in the city on the hill. Asa reasoned with himself that these rumors might as well be true, for he had seen for himself people saying that they had lost hope of winning this war.

Asa had once been confident in the city on the hill, sure that they would win by the time he was old. But now he began to doubt whether they would. He began to wonder if there was ever going to be an end to the war, whether there was a cure for his sister, and whether he wanted to live in the city on the hill anymore."

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**To me it seems like it is kind of all over the place, but please review and tell me what you think! Please also tell me if you saw any Grammatical or spelling errors. Just tell me what you thought of it as a whole! If you have any ideas for it, tell me, I always welcome ideas...**

**Anyway, if you'd like, (I'd like you to!) you can go to my profile and take a look at it. I have a ton (and I mean a _ton_) of stuff on there. Even if you don't read any of it, please do the poll; I need ideas! (well, other than this story that is...)**

**I don't know how often I'll be able to update, because I'm starting school this week. Even though I'm ****home schooled and have more time than most people, it's still not a ton of time.**


	2. Temporary Pause

Hey there guys! I feel really bad for putting up a new chapter when it isn't, you know, an actual chapter. When I first put this story up, I had a ton of great ideas, but now, poof! Gone, disappeared. I have less than 0% inspiration for this story. Total. Writers. Block.

Don't you worry though! I still refuse to abandon any story! I am merely putting this on hold for a while.

If you want me to continue soon, then give me ideas! I will gladly accept any (though I may tweak it to fit my desires).

I am starting another story in the meantime which has been on my mind for a while. I have a pretty big and detailed plan for where I want it to go, but you never know. Often I heave really great ideas, only to have them destroyed by reality.

So I guess, for now, I shall say, "See ya peeps!"

~Kiearrah Mai Rhone


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